CROSSBORDER POLICE INCURSIONS RAISE FEARS OF CONFRONTATION

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) The chase lasted only a block and a half. But when
Border Patrol agent Sean Gijanto pursued a bordercrosser, he stepped over
an international boundary and into a controversy that cost him his job.

Early last month, Gijanto his revolver drawn chased his man into the
Mexican city of Agua Prieta. Then, three times in six days, Mexican law
enforcement officials pursuing suspects crossed illegally into Arizona east
of Douglas.

The rash of crossborder incursions has officials of both nations worried
that, one day, such an incident will lead to violence.

``There might be some serious episode here in which some Border Patrol
agent or national guardsman or whoever might shoot someone from the other
side and cause an international crisis,'' said Edward Williams, a
University of Arizona political scientist and border specialist.

Rob Daniels, a spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol, said the crossborder
incursions ``are very potentially dangerous, if in fact the individual
making the incursion is totally unaware of where he or she is and they
believe that they are on their own soil and not foreign soil.''

Ron Sanders, the Border Patrol chief for most of the ArizonaMexico border,
said most such crossings are intentional.

``They know darn well where that border is,'' Sanders said. ``We're not
talking about situations 20 to 30 miles out in the desert. These are
usually situations within a rock's throw of the port of entry.''

``There's no doubt in my mind that our officer knew where he was,'' he said
of Gijanto. ``And the same thing holds true in my belief for the Mexican
officers.''

On March 9, a halfdozen heavily armed, uniformed Mexican soldiers who had
crossed the border shined flashlights onto Border Patrol agents who were
hiding in brush east of Douglas, just north of the border, waiting for
illegal immigrants or drug traffickers.

The startled soldiers, confused and disoriented, said they were looking for
drug traffickers and returned to Mexico.

Such situations could reach the shooting stage, ``and that's obviously
potential law enforcement vs. law enforcement,'' Daniels said.

``Any kind of incident might provoke situations of danger,'' said Roberto
Rodriguez Hernandez, Mexican consul in Nogales, Ariz.

In Washington, Border Patrol spokesman Bill Strassburger said incursions
are not a common occurrence, but acknowledged that the patrol does not keep
statistics. There is no policy for firing agents who cross improperly, he
added.

Sanders fired Gijanto; he also released another probationary agent in April
who mistakenly drove a patrol van about 15 feet into Mexico while trying to
release aliens being deported, including a woman with a bad leg.

Such episodes violate laws against taking weapons and ammunition into
another country without approval and against entering except through a port
of entry, Sanders said. There also is a potential liability issue if an
officer tries to make an arrest in the other country, he said.

The answer is cooperation, officials said. ``The importance of law
enforcement working together on both sides of the border to get the
socalled bad guy is so important,'' Daniels said.

Sanders and other American officials meet at least bimonthly with Rodriguez
Hernandez and Mexico's other consular officials in Arizona to establish
closer ties.

Potentially serious problems have been defused by good relations between
the Border Patrol and Mexico's Grupo Beta, Daniels and Rodriguez Hernandez
said.

The plainclothes, armed Mexican agents patrol the border in Agua Prieta,
Naco and Nogales, Sonora, looking for criminals who prey on Mexican
citizens as well as undocumented migrants headed north.

Daniels said the patrol and Grupo Beta are working on an arrangement that
would let either side ask the other for help in chasing criminal suspects.

More concrete and steel solutions are in the works as well.

A twomile tubular steel fence should be completed in February at Douglas,
with another threemile section made from surplus steel landing mats to be
added later in 1998.